The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
by David W. Maurer
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The classic 1940 study of con men and con games that Luc Sante in Salon called "a bonanza of wild but credible stories, told concisely with deadpan humor, as sly and rich in atmosphere as anything this side of Mark Twain." "Of all the grifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat," wrote David Maurer, a proposition he definitely proved in The Big Con, one of the most colorful, well-researched, and entertaining works of criminology ever written. A professor of linguistics who specialized show more in underworld argot, Maurer won the trust of hundreds of swindlers, who let him in on not simply their language but their folkways and the astonishingly complex and elaborate schemes whereby unsuspecting marks, hooked by their own greed and dishonesty, were "taken off" - i.e. cheated--of thousands upon thousands of dollars. The Big Con is a treasure trove of American lingo (the write, the rag, the payoff, ropers, shills, the cold poke, the convincer, to put on the send) and indelible characters (Yellow Kid Weil, Barney the Patch, the Seldom Seen Kid, Limehouse Chappie, Larry the Lug). It served as the source for the Oscar-winning film The Sting. show lessTags
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A classic of popular sociology and underworld linguistics, Maurer takes us inside the world of the big con. In its heydey in the 1920s, mobs of organized grifters would set up elaborate fake betting shops, poker dens, and stock exchanges, where traveling marks identified by "ropers" would be sent in to turn over the life savings to the machinations of the "insideman", the chief grifter of a city. Cons works on any man with larceny in his heart, a desire to win some money on a sure thing.
By training, Maurer was a linguists, and there's poetry in the thieves cant. "Never boast about your rags, but brag about your long crush. That will lead him along to brag about his long hack, and then you're getting somewhere, brother. If he is a show more hard-shelled Babbitt, why you're one too." Even the names, The Yellow Kid Weil, Limehouse Chappie, The High Ass Kid, convey a romanticism of the lost past, and of the grift mobs who stole with deception rather than force. For the grift is an art, an alternate reality where more money is just around the corner. It's rather fascinating to compare the Big Shops to the online deceptions of modern scammers like Derek Alldred and the romance of this book against the sordid lies of reality. show less
By training, Maurer was a linguists, and there's poetry in the thieves cant. "Never boast about your rags, but brag about your long crush. That will lead him along to brag about his long hack, and then you're getting somewhere, brother. If he is a show more hard-shelled Babbitt, why you're one too." Even the names, The Yellow Kid Weil, Limehouse Chappie, The High Ass Kid, convey a romanticism of the lost past, and of the grift mobs who stole with deception rather than force. For the grift is an art, an alternate reality where more money is just around the corner. It's rather fascinating to compare the Big Shops to the online deceptions of modern scammers like Derek Alldred and the romance of this book against the sordid lies of reality. show less
Ever wonder how people come up with all the snappy dialog and crazy names conmen use on tv? The writers read this. Nonfiction account of conmen and long cons in the early 20th century focusing on language. Very dated (especially racially) but fascinating still.
Did not age well.
from the NY Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1999/06/24/on-the-big-con/
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Author Information
14+ Works 615 Members
David W. Maurer was professor of linguistics at the University of Louisville. He was the author of The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man, Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction, and Whiz Mob: A Correlation of the Technical Argot of Pickpockets with Their Behavior Pattern.
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- Canonical title*
- The Big Con : The Story of the Confidence Man
- Dedication
- Affectionately dedicated to the Countess, the Emir, and the Egge
- First words
- (Introduction by Luc Sante): The book you are holding in your hands, now reprinted after a shamefully long hiatus is, like, its subjects, crowned with many hats.
(Introduction): This bit of journalism came into being in a rather curious fashion.
The grift has a gentle touch. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)As long as the political boss, whether he be local, state or national, fosters a machine wherein graft and bribery are looked upon as a normal phase of government, as long as juries, judges, and law enforcement officers can be had for a price, the confidence man will live and thrive in our society.
- Blurbers
- Ellroy, James
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 364.163 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Crimes of property Fraud
- LCC
- HV6691 .M3 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Crimes and offenses
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 511
- Popularity
- 58,751
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.84)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 6
